BOX SET
GERRY AND THE PACEMAKERS
I LIKE IT!
ANTHOLOGY 1963 - 1966
Cherry Red
Go to Liverpool today and you’ll meet lots of taxi drivers, shopkeepers, people on the street, people in bars and clubs and each has their own story to tell about John, Paul, George or Ringo. Go to Anfield to watch a home game of Liverpool Football Club though and there is only one musician and his group who are represented. Prior to kick-off, in support of their idols on the pitch, 60,000 fans will sing Gerry & The Pacemakers version of You’ll Never Walk Alone; hearing it raises the hairs on your arms, being in amongst it is like nothing else on earth. When Gerry Marsden died in 2021, he couldn’t have a large funeral due to covid restrictions but eleven football stadiums around the world combined through the internet to sing You’ll Never Walk Alone as a tribute; hundreds of thousands more joined in online. On hearing about his death, Paul McCartney said that “Gerry was a mate from our early days in Liverpool. He and his group were our biggest rivals on the local scene.”
Gerry & The Pacemakers early discography is somewhat complicated. In the UK, his first two single were not released on his debut album but they were split between the first two US albums, both of which had omissions to their UK counterparts. Other tracks were released in the USA and Canada but not the UK. Suffice to say, it is now all here in one place including the complete Oakland Auditorium concert from 1964 which spawned the ‘Gerry In California’ EP released the following year. This era, three short years, is filled with fun, laughter, cheekiness and joy, it’s an era of innocence, a time when Liverpool was the greatest city in the world and Gerry & The Pacemakers ran with The Beatles, not below them. Their delivery of a self-penned song is on a par with the Fab Four’s first two albums. Their covers of show tunes, Rock ‘n’ Roll classics and standards are delightfully arranged and the concert included in this, is arguably better than any of the official Beatles live releases.
Gerry has a smile on his face in every photo you can find and that’s because by all accounts, he was one the happiest musicians of that era. This comes through in his music as does his love of Liverpool, the city he lived in all his life. The same can be said of The Pacemakers, a band that continues to this day with Gerry’s blessing even though all of the original Pacemakers, Gerry’s brother, Freddie (d), Les McQuire (piano) and Les Chadwick (b) are sadly, no longer with us. For a snapshot of 1960’s Merseybeat, along with the camaraderie that went with it in all the musicians, you can do no better than to listen to this set from one of Liverpool’s most revered sons and his band.
Track List
Disc One
How Do You Do It?
Away From You
I Like It
It’s Happened To Me
A Shot Of Rhythm And Blues
Jambalaya
Where Have You Been All My Life?
Here’s Hoping
Pretend
Maybelline
You’ll Never Walk Alone
The Wrong Yo Yo
You’re The Reason
Chills
You Can’t Fool Me
Don’t You Ever
Summertime
Slow Down
It’s All Right
I’ll Be There (First Version)
Don’t Ever Stray
Hello Little Girl
I’m The One
You’ve Got What I Like
Don’t Let The Sun Catch You Crying
Show Me That You Care
I’ll Be There (Second Version – No Strings)
Give Me All Your Love (No Strings)
Come Back To Me (No Strings)
Dizzy Miss Lizzy (Live)
My Babe (Live)
Away From You (Live)
What’d I Say (Live)
Disc Two
Ferry Cross The Mersey
It’s Gonna Be All Right
Why Oh Why
Fall In Love
Think About Love
This Thing Called Love
Baby You’re So Good To Me
I’ll Wait For You
She’s The Only Girl For Me
You You You
It’s Just Because
My Love Forever
I’ll Be There (Second (Single) Version With Strings)
What’d I Say (Studio Version)
Reelin’ And Rockin’
Whole Lotta Shakin’ Going On
Rip It Up
You Win Again
Now I’m Alone
My Babe (Studio Version)
I Count The Tears
It’ll Be Me
Skinny Minnie
When Oh When
Hallelujah I Love Her So
Tomorrow
I’ll Make It All Up To You
Give Me All Your Love (With Strings)
Come Back To Me (With Strings)
Walk Hand In Hand
Dreams
Disc Three
Today I’m In Love
La La La
Without You
Girl On A Swing
Fool To Myself
The Way You Look Tonight
The Big Bright Green Pleasure Machine
On A Wonderful Day Like Today
Tonight
Strangers In The Night
Who Can I Turn To
See You In September
Pretty Flamingo
The End Of The Rainbow
Guantanamera
Looking For My Life
Anyone At All
Introduction *
Dizzy Miss Lizzy *
I Like It *
My Babe *
Don’t Let The Sun Catch You Crying *
Slow Down *
I’m The One *
Away From You *
A Shot Of Rhythm And Blues *
How Do You Do It *
What’d I Say *
Don’t Let The Sun Catch You Crying †
Ferry Cross The Mersey †
It’s Gonna Be All Right †
I’ll Be There (Second Version With Strings) †
Walk Hand In Hand †
Looking For My Life †
* Live from the Oakland Auditorium, 24 October 1964 (Stereo)
† Stereo
BOX SET
FREDDIE AND THE DREAMERS
THE COMPLETE RECORDINGS
1963 - 1970
Cherry Red
Whether it is because they never had a UK No.1 or that they were not a pretty group or because of their zaniness onstage, Freddie and the Dreamers are more often than not overlooked as a significant band of the 1960s. Nevertheless, they did have six UK Top 10 hits, were part of the British Invasion, having four US Top 40 hits including a No.1 with “I’m Tellin’ You Now”. They were also always a welcome addition to a UK package tour or TV show and as this set reveals, deserve a higher ranking musically than they have.
Signed to EMI, this box comprises all the singles and their five albums released on the Columbia label, along with Oliver in the Overworld which was released on EMI’s budget Starline label; in short, every EMI recording. By the time of the latter’s release, the band were close to the end of their career and is in fact a soundtrack album from a serial in a long-forgotten UK TV children’s television show called Little Big Time. The show featured the band and Freddie was his wacky self but the music on this album is very different. Closer to Prog than Pop with a linking narrative, this is it’s first outing on CD. For lovers of late sixties British music, this disc on its own makes the box set worth buying.
Going back to the beginning, until The Beatles came along, very few artists wrote their own songs, hence, Freddie and the Dreamers did a lot of covers – that may be another reason why they never really took off. To label the point, their first two albums which span disc 2, are entirely covers, the third being a medley/party album and their fourth, all Disney songs the sum of which make up disc 3. There were obviously songwriters in the band as many of the B-sides (all on disc 1) were Freddie Garrity’s own compositions; the rest of the band came up with material in later years. Those compositions do show potential but it seems like they were destined never to have their moment in the spotlight. All that said, the arrangements of the covers and compositions written for them, are flawlessly recorded and are of far better quality than others of that era. A large part of this can be attributed to John Burgess, their producer, who was one of the best during the sixties and seventies at capturing clarity.
Freddie Garrity, Derek Quinn, Roy Crewdson, Pete Birrell and Bernie Dwyer are not household names and most likely, never will be. In 1971, they all went their separate ways but together, for a decade, they were up there with Manchester’s other sixties greats, The Hollies and Herman’s Hermits. They deserve their place in music history and now, finally, with this box set, they have it.
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Track List
DISC ONE - Singles As & Bs 1963-1968
1. If You Gotta Make a Fool of Somebody
2. Feel So Blue
3. I’m Tellin’ You Now
4. What Have I Done To You
5. You Were Made For Me
6. Send a Letter To Me
7. Over You
8. Come Back When You’re Ready
9. I Love You Baby
10. Don’t Make Me Cry
11. Just For You
12. Don’t Do That To Me
13. I Understand
14. I Will
15. A Little You
16. Things I’d Like To Say
17. Thou Shalt Not Steal
18. I Don’t Know
19. If You’ve Got a Minute, Baby
20. When I’m Home With You When I’m Home With You
21. Playboy
22. Some Day
23. Turn Around
24. Funny Over You
25. Hello, Hello, 1967)
26. All I Ever Want Is You
27. Brown and Porters (Meat Exporters) Lorry
28. Little Brown Eyes
29. Little Big Time
30. You Belong To Me
31. Gabardine Mac
32. It’s Great
DISC TWO - FREDDIE & THE DREAMERS (1963)
1. If You Gotta Make a Fool of Somebody
2. Some Other Guy
3. Somebody Else’s Girl
4. Yes I Do
5. Zip a Dee Doo Dah
6. Drink This It’ll Make You Sleep
7. I Understand (version 1)
8. Sally Anne
9. I’m a Hog For You
10. The Wedding
11. Money (That’s What I Want)
12. Crying
13. He Got What He Wanted (But He Lost What He Had)
14. Kansas City
YOU WERE MAD FOR ME (1964)
15. Jailer Bring Me Water
16. It Doesn’t Matter Anymore
17. Tell Me When
18. Cut Across Shorty
19. I’ll Never Dance Again
20. What’d I Say
21. See You Later Alligator
22. Early in the Morning
23. I Think of You
24. Only You
25. Johnny B Goode
26. I Don’t Love You Anymore
27. Say It Isn’t True
28. Write Me a Letter
PLUS
29. The Viper
30. Kansas City
31. I’m a Hog For You
32. I Just Don't Understand
DISC THREE - SING-ALONG PARTY (1965)
1. You Were Made For Me/Tip Toe Through the Tulips/I’m Forever Blowing Bubbles
2. Whispering/By the Light of the Silvery Moon/When You’re Smiling
3. For You/I’ll Be Your Sweetheart/If You Were the Only Girl in the World and I Was the Only Boy
4. Ma (He’s Making Eyes At Me)/ Rock-a-Bye Your Baby With a Dixie Melody/Ain’t We Got Fun
5. If You Gotta Make a Fool of Somebody/Over You/I’m Telling You Now
6. You Must Have Been a Beautiful Baby/I Wonder Who’s Kissing Her Now/She’s a Lassie from Lancashire
7. For Me and My Gal/Who’s Sorry Now
8. California Here I Come/I Only Have Eyes For You/I’m Just Wild About Harry
IN DISNEYLAND (1966)
9. The Ugly Bug Ball
10. When You Wish Upon a Star
11. When I See an Elephant Fly
12. Winnie the Pooh
13. Chim Chim Cheree
14. Heigh Ho
15. The Unbirthday Song
16. Siamese Cat Song
17. Whistle While You Work
18. Give a Little Whistle
19. Ballad of Dick Turpin
20. Supercalifragilistic expialidocius
PLUS
Songs From The Film "What A Crazy World" EP (1964)
21. Sally Ann
22. Camptown Races
23. Short Shorts
24. Lonely Boy
DISC FOUR - KING FREDDIE AND HIS DREAMING KNIGHTS (1967)
1. I Fell In Love With Your Picture
2. The Doll House Is Empty
3. Picture of You
4. The 59th Street Bridge Song
5. So Many Different Ways
6. Children
7. The Night Is Over
8. There’s Got to Be a Word
9. Juanita Banana
10. Sing C’est La Vie
11. Don’t Tell Me That
12. Is It Love
13. You’ve Got Me Going
14. Look For That Rainbow PLUS
15. What’s Cooking
16. How’s About Trying Your Luck With Me
17. Just For You
18. Silly Girl
19. Little Bitty Pretty One
20. In My Baby’s Arms
21. She Belongs To You
22. I Wonder Who the Lucky Guy Will Be
23. A Windmill in Old Amsterdam
24. Do The Freddie
25. A Love Like You
26. The Maybe Song (as The Dreamers)
27. The Long Road (as The Dreamers)
DISC FIVE - OLIVER IN THE OVERWORLD (1970)
1. I Wanna Go To the Overworld
2. How D’ya Do
3. The Overoad
4. You Can’t Go Wrong
5. It Can’t Be This
6. Day By Day
7. Harry the Heater
8. Gimme Dat Ding
9. The Undercog Song
10. I’ll Come Back and See You Again
PLUS
11. Little Red Donkey (as Freddie Garrity)
12. Get Around Downtown Girl
13. What To Do